U.N. Urges China to Revamp Food Safety System
According to news sources, the United Nations released a report October 22, 2008, calling on China to overhaul its system of food-safety regulation. The World Health Organization’s top food-safety official claimed that the country’s recent tainted-milk scandal was a result of individuals who “exploited weaknesses” in the regulatory system, which is “dispersed” among too many agencies and governmental levels. The U.N. urged the government to streamline its laws, make them tougher and regulate food products from farm to fork. A local spokesperson said that the U.N. stood ready to work closely with Chinese officials on reforming the law.
The report apparently urges the Chinese government to shift more responsibility to food companies by requiring them to institute risk-management programs that can be audited by government inspectors. Released just as the standing committee of the National People’s Congress was preparing to discuss the draft of a new food-safety law that will, in part, improve the government’s ability to trace and recall unsafe foods, the U.N. report evidently warned the country that its food exports will decrease if concerns about its regulatory system are
not addressed.
The report also notes that China’s regulatory agencies are perennially understaffed and underfunded, leading to an inability to carry out assigned tasks. Those Chinese agencies sharing authority over food safety include the State Food and Drug Administration; the Ministries of Health and Agriculture; State Administration; State Administration for Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine; the State Administration of Industry and Commerce; and the Ministry of Commerce.
Meanwhile, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. reportedly announced during a conference for suppliers in Beijing that it would be imposing stricter standards related to product quality, labor conditions and sustainability on all of its suppliers. The global retailer apparently buys billions of dollars worth of consumer goods from China annually; those suppliers that do not meet the new requirements or have a plan to fix their problems will be banned from supplying products to the company. While the standards will initially apply to clothing, they will ultimately cover all goods and all countries by 2011.
Wal-Mart’s chief executive was quoted as saying, “I firmly believe that a company that cheats on the age of its labor, that dumps its scraps and its chemicals in our rivers, that does not pay its taxes or honor its contracts, will ultimately cheat on the quality of its products.” The company will reportedly audit its suppliers and require them to meet disclosure requirements. See Product Liability Law 360, Xinhua and The Globe and Mail, October 22, 2008; The Wall Street Journal, October 22, 2008.
